Rats did it: Jharkhand police blame rodents for missing marijuana

Jharkhand police produced nearly 100kg of the haul before the court, and claimed rats finished off the rest of the marijuana that was kept in plastic sacks inside the malkhana.

ranchiUpdated: Aug 24, 2017 19:01 IST

Subhash Mishra

Hindustan Times, Dhanbad

Police had deposited the seized narcotic in the malkhana (storeroom) of the Barwadda police station in Jharkhand’s Dhanbad district.(Syamal/HT illustration)

Police in Jharkhand’s Dhanbad have told a court rats ate 45kg of marijuana that was confiscated from a man, who was smuggling 145kg of the narcotic from Bihar to West Bengal.

Police seized the marijuana from inter-state GT Road (NH-2) under Barwadda police station of the district from a man named Shivaji Kumar, a resident of Jagdishpur in Bhojpur district of Bihar, who was carrying it his Honda car in May 2016.

Police deposited the seized narcotic in the malkhana (storeroom) of the Barwadda police station and booked Kumar under the Narcotic Drugs Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985. They filed a chargesheet against Kumar in a local court on July 11, 2016.

After the charges were framed against Kumar on July 5, the court on Tuesday asked the police to produce the seized marijuana before it.

Police produced nearly 100kg of the haul before the court. When the court questioned about the remaining quantity, officer in-charge of Barwadda police station Dinesh Kumar submitted a report saying rats finished off the rest of the marijuana that was kept in plastic sacks inside the malkhana.

When contacted, Kumar refused to comment on the issue saying the matter was subjudice.

In May, the furry rodents were blamed by Bihar police of polishing off more than 900,000 litres of alcohol that they seized from people flouting prohibition laws in the state. Police later launch an inquiry to examine the claims.